News

Leading diamonds and fine jewelry online retailer Blue Nile has added Scott Howe to its board of directors, effective Jan. 1, 2014. Howe is president and CEO of Acxiom Corporation, an enterprise data, analytics and software-as-a-service company.

Prior to his current role, Howe was corporate VP of Microsoft Advertising Business Groups, where he managed a multibillion-dollar business encompassing all emerging businesses related to online advertising including search, display, in-game, mobile, digital cable and a variety of enterprise software applications.

Payvision, an independent payment services provider, has added JCB Card to its global payment portfolio. As the only international payment card brand based in Japan, JCB has a strong presence in Asia, while processing secure payment transactions for its expanding network of 24 million merchants worldwide.

The newest tactic to disparage Walmart by an organization called the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) involves race, politics and a convoluted connection to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Eight-year Walmart employee and OUR Walmart member Charmaine Givens-Thomas has posted a petition on the organization’s website invoking the name of the slain civil rights leader. She is seeking 100,000 signatures and a meeting with president Barack Obama to address the injustices to which she contends Walmart subjects its workers.

New York -- Office Depot and OfficeMax announced the completion of their merger late Tuesday and from the looks of third quarter results released the same day the deal should prove beneficial to both companies.

Office Depot said its third quarter same store sales declined 2%, while OfficeMax said its comps dropped 2.8% in the U.S. and 2.2% in Mexico.

The combined company will use the name Office Depot, Inc. and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP.

By Christian Davies, [email protected]

Meet the most complex shopper of all time – Generation Z. By 2020, today’s 14-19 year olds (Gen Z) will be the largest group of consumers worldwide, making up 40% of the U.S., Europe and the BRIC countries, and 10% in the rest of the world. The needs and behaviors of this group will influence the future of mainstream retail.

New Albany, Ohio -- Abercrombie & Fitch reported weak net and comparable store sales and laid out plans to restructure its Gilly Hicks brand as part of a strategic review in advance of releasing its full results for the third quarter of fiscal 2013.

St. Petersburg, Fla. – HSN, Inc. (HSNi) reported impressive financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Net income soared about 137% to $42.05 million, compared to $17.69 million in the same quarter a year prior.

New York -- Increasing smartphone ownership is taking more consumers down the digital shopping route, while many shoppers plan to frequent local small businesses when visiting stores this holiday season. According to the Deloitte Annual Holiday Survey overall smartphone ownership has risen to 61% of respondents from 42% two years ago.

Westborough, Mass. -- BJ's Wholesale Club is spreading its Black Friday deals across an entire week (Sunday, Nov. 24 through Sunday, Dec. 1), excluding Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 28. The retailer says it is offering more than twice as many Black Friday deals this year as it did last year.

New York – Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity was strong in the retail and consumer industry during the third quarter of 2013. Data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shows that transaction values on M&A deals in the retail/consumer sector rose 112% compared to the same quarter a year earlier.